Is the English language dying?

Question

Do you think that the standard of written English has fallen in recent years? Is everyone making a big fuss over nothing? Please share your views!

Answer 1

Oh gosh yeah! I think that the Written English is going to be scrapped in the next 30 years. The Every year changes every thing change with it. i hope im making sense here. Look back in the 80's and 90's I always thought that the world was going stay the same, but it changing the culture, change of fashion etc. So I can see the standard of written english has fallen and thats just the way its gonna be.

Answer 2

I think that the English language is changing. If you look at languages in history, they change over time. If you where to listen to someone speaking "old english" back from the reinacence ages, you would not be able to understand them very well. That is how much the english language has changed so far. That is what is currently happen, slang words, and words taking on double meanings is not a new concept, it has happened since the begining of languages themselves. Personally, I think its just a big fuss over a little thing. While I do agree that my peers vocabularies are a bit limited (I myself do not have that problem, I read so I know lots of words, even if I butcher the pronouncation) Teachers and adults should strive to eduacate us and teach us the language better, but should not attempt to hold back natural language evolution, it is futile to even try. If someone where to go up to you and speak old english (though not so far back you couldn't understand them) you would probably thing that they where the ones speaking strange, even though their language was first!

Answer 3

All languages that are in use on a regular basis are evolving. English is no exception and while I do not care for many aspects of the current evolution, whining about it will not help. The only way to combat what folks see as bad evolution of the language (party as a verb, ending sentences in prepositions, alternate spellings to known words, etc) is individual by individual.

It is important to note that until the wide distribution of dictionaries and universal publicly funded primary education, there was not standard for language. People wrote and spelled according to class and custom.

What we see going on now is, in my less than humble opinion, a result of the discrediting of publicly funded education and an embrace of trend over substance. Trend is easy, after all, and substance takes work, resolve, and, most damningly, review.

This is not a new argument, of course. Basic research will indicate a heralding of disaster for language and culture reaching back throughout recorded history.

Answer 4

I think the standard of written and spoken English is abysmal these days. It's easy for parents to blame the teachers and vice verse. I think the real culprits are the media and, in particular, those that are seen to shape our society and culture. For me, the problem became more noticeable in the 90's as the emergence of mobile phones became increasingly ubiquitous. Thanks to the popularity of SMS (texting), the English language is devolving in to Neanderthal like, mono-syllabic grunts commonly demonstrated by almost any modern-day school pupil.

The ability to communicate so effectively with each other is something that distinguishes us from the rest of the animals that populate this planet. I believe it's vital to promote the evolution and advancement of any language to preserve the cultural heritage of the civilisations that have and are shaping the world in which we all live.

Answer 5

Language doesn't die, but it is upgraded, Regarding the level of writing there is still a Shakespeare,why don't u take care , The general writing of common person is based on the local convenience so there are plenty of words which u will not find in the dictionary, It means English too requires upgrading, Not dying...
Just upgrade the Language too in the same way as u do your computers.
ENJOY.

Answer 6

Some languages like Italian, change very little. To a modern Italian, Dante's poetry might seem a bit old-fashioned but it's quite understandable. Other languages like English change a lot. Chaucer was about a century more recent than Dante, but his poetry has to be translated into modern English. Perhaps some linguist can explain this.

Answer 7

The standard of written English is definitely "falling" insofar as people are conforming less and less to traditional rules of grammar and punctuation. On the other hand, many would have it that the language is merely "evolving". My personal view is that any modification which allows a non-native speaker still to understand what is spoken or written is probably not a bad thing, although I'm quite a stickler for "correctness" myself.

If you'd like a prediction to take to the bank, I believe that the use of "it's" as a possessive will be pretty much universal in ten years' time!

Answer 8

The English language has been dying since the time of Shakespere, so that is nothing new - the establishment always saves it, but perhaps with the arrival of sms texts, it will change, but this is not death, it is evolution, as English is a living language.

French on the other hand, once the international language of diplomacy, is so jealously guarded by a few gramatically snobbish Parisians, that it has started to die - to be replaced by its old rival English as an international language.

vive la difference

Answer 9

English has always changed (evolved).

Of course standards have always been applied when judging the quality of the overall standard of English usage.

The quality of the language will be reflected in the general intelligence of the populations using it as does morality.

Answer 10

Language evolves. People living in medieval times in England wouldn't understand us now.

I do think people are just lazier now though, and education is crap, so standards of the written language drop, even though the way it is spoken stays at a similar level.